The Treaty of Versailles

- In January 1919, 27 countries came together to draw up the terms for peace.
-The meetings were led, and most decisions were made by the “Big Three” countries involved in
the war. Each had their own ideas of what the peace treaty should contain.
- France (Georges Clemenceau): Of the Big Three, France lost the most men in WWI (1.4
million). France wanted revenge for the 1870 loss to Germany in the Franco-Prussian War. They
wanted the province of Alsace-Lorraine returned, compensation for all the damage done by the
war, and a guarantee that another similar war with Germany would ever happen again. France
desired the harshest terms against Germany politically, economically, and militarily.
- Great Britain (David Lloyd-George): Although Britain wanted revenge against
Germany, it did not want to make the penalties so harsh that Germany would not be able to
recover economically. It was in Britain’s best interests to have a strong trading partner. More
importantly, Britain believed that if Germany’s economy was destroyed, it would be more likely
that Germany would fall to Communism.
- USA (Woodrow Wilson): Although the US wanted to see Germany punished, they
believed that it was important for Germany to have enough economic strength to re-establish
trade with the allies. Wilson wanted to see a peace that was based on his 14 Points.
- On May 7, 19not 19 the Big Three “dictated” their terms to Germany. The terms were not
negotiable. Germany was forced to accept them or face a possible invasion or a continued
blockade. The peace treaty was a “dictat” or dictated peace where Germany had no input
whatsoever.
- On June 23, 1919, German representatives signed the Treaty of Versailles which included
Article 231, the War Guilt Clause. This forced Germany to accept full blame for the war.
- The treaty was divided into three sections: one dealing with territorial losses, one with military
clauses, and one with reparations.
Some of the key points of the Treaty of Versailles:
- Alsace-Lorraine was to be given back to France.
-Germany was stripped of all its colonies.
- The Rhineland was to be demilitarized. Allied troops would occupy the area for up to
15 years.
- The German army was reduced to 100,000 men.
 - The German navy was to be handed over to the British. German sailors sunk their own
battleships at Scapa Flow rather than turn them over to the British.
- Germany was forbidden to build any submarines, planes, or tanks.
- Germany would be forced to pay 6,600 million pounds (approximately $14 billion) in
reparations.
- Wilson’s idea of self determination was very difficult to accomplish because different peoples
tended to not live in defined areas. This meant that no matter how countries were divided up,
there would always be mixed nationalities present.
- Dividing countries along nationalistic lines also did not make economic or strategic sense.
Usually, countries are divided along a natural landform like a river or a mountain range.
- New borders were drawn based on Wilson’s idea:
- Austria-Hungary disintegrated and Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and a separate Austria
and Hungary were created. Land was added to Romania and Bulgaria.
- Poland was re-created (it had been divided up in the 18th century), but its formation
separated Germany into two (East Prussia).
- Italy received some land in the north (Tyrol, Istria) but not Dalmatia.
- Russia was given back most of the land it lost in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
- Germany received no self-determination. They were forbidden from joining with Austria
(Anschluss), and Belgium was given control of the coal producing areas of Eupen and Malmedy.
- Self-determination also did not apply to areas of the Middle East which had previously
belonged to Turkey. The different nationalities were promised their independence but after the
war, these areas were turned into mandates of Britain and France and put under League of
Nations control. Britain controlled Palestine and Jordan, France controlled Syria and Lebanon.
League of Nations
- The League of Nations was also the idea of Woodrow Wilson. Its purpose was to prevent
future wars by providing “collective security” for its members nations.
- The League would prove to be very weak, The USA did not join and the League had no armed
forces of its own. Member countries were reluctant to use their own militaries for collective
security.